It’s Skye high at nation’s top hospitality awards

Double triumph for island hotel and restaurant The Isle of Skye, often voted one of the world’s most popular islands, has sailed away with two of the top honours at Scotland’s most prestigious awards ceremony for hospitality, tourism and catering. The Three Chimneys on the edge of Loch Dunvegan took the title of Best Restaurant in the 15th year of the Catering Scotland (CIS) Excellence Awards while Skeabost House, described by the judges as a ‘Cinderella fairy tale,’ won the Group Hotel category. In further evidence of the growing attractions of Scotland’s West coast islands, the Douglas Hotel on Arran was named Best Independent Hotel at a packed gala dinner in Glasgow on Thursday night attended by more than 500 of the country’s leading hoteliers, caterers, chefs, colleges and suppliers. Judges said Shirley Spear’s Three Chimneys, at Colbost in the north-west of the island, ’has consistently delivered world-class standards over many years… its chefs have wowed guests with a delicate and skilful touch that has showcased the highest standards to a global clientele.’ Last Autumn, Three Chimneys, whose head chef is Scott Davies, was named the UK Good Food Guide’s Restaurant of 2018.   Other finalists in the category included Glasgow’s seafood specialist, Gamba, and L’Escargot Blanc in Edinburgh. Skeabost, the most recently acquired member of the Sonas group of three boutique hotels on Skye, ‘is a real Cinderella, rags-to-riches story,’ the judges commented. Anne Gracie Gunn and her late husband, Ken, ‘took a tired, unloved hotel and transformed and…